No Rest for the Wicked??

For wanting to look forward to relaxing after the end of the race season, I found myself on a bike 9 out of the last 10 days…and weight training on the one day off.

As far as the weekend went Friday had me on a morning mountain bike ride with Paul and BicycleWorksJim to celebrate the maiden voyage of the new bike.

 

We ended up meeting Rod on the trail, who joined us.  These guys are all fast, fit, skilled riders so this ended up being a great two hour workout! 

Also Friday, my son arrived (from University in Windsor) for a weekend Thanksgiving visit.

Saturday was the BicycleWorks advanced group ride.  This group is all skilled, fast, fit, and always ride the most challenging trails.  Again, an awesome two hour workout…and me getting used to the new bike.

Also Saturday, my daughter departed back to Saskatchewan for College.   However my mother arrived for a fall visit!

Guess which one is my mom?

Sunday, was a somewhat leisurely (finally!!) local trail mountain bike ride with Rich, and Fig.  Almost enough of a calorie burn to make up for the Thanksgiving dinner gorge-fest that followed in the afternoon!  Even our cats enjoyed some ‘fallen’ scraps of turkey and ham…athough this food puts them a little off…

Monday had me waking up feeling depleted from all the riding, and with a messy stomach from the rich Thanksgiving overindulgence.  However, I had committed to a road ride with Fig and Centurion (starting from Fig’s house)…so I packed up my bike and gear and headed to Fig’s house.  Now I have mentioned in previous posts that Fig and Centurion are greased lightning on road bikes!!  Very fast, very fit…I knew I was in for a world of hurt in my condition.

Also joining us was EnglishJim for his very first real road ride on his brand new Roubaix!!  (Just purchase from ‘yours truly’…yes, ‘yours truly’ means me).

Fig was all excited about this ride cuz he gots to wear his new ‘Series Champ’ jersey.  (See the previous couple of posts for the story on this jersey).

It was a cold morning…like 5d Celsius!!    So I was wearing a cycling jacket…of course I had my necessary uniform underneath that…

Then I wear this under that…

I wish…so does Lois!  J

Anyways...digressing once again...actually for most of the ride I was OK…keeping pace and all.  Then around the last 5 kilometres (of an about 80 km ride), climbing up the long steep Cedar Springs road hill, my quads decided they had had enough.  With a ball of Charlie horse on each quad screaming at me, “Riot, we are shuttin you down!!” I struggled just to keep the legs moving so they wouldn’t lock up.  I managed to keep them going at a moderate pace, as Fig and Centurion peeled off ahead of me…I limped on to follow them to the finish of the ride. 

EnglishJim followed, happy with the new roadbike experience, and we all recovered on the deck in Fig’s back yard.  Actually this little fellow joined us…and I shared some of Fig’s organic sunflower seeds with him…which upset Fig’s Dutch sensibilities.   J

So Monday evening, with the quads trying to recover…I get a text from NewfieSteve, who was camping in Algonquin with his LCW Lisa for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Steve hadn’t been on a bike for 9 days (since the tour de king race).  He was fresh, raring to see my new bike, and to go on a ride.  Great…Steve is as fast on a mountain bike as Fig, and Centurion are on road bikes.  No rest for the weary…

So Tuesday afternoon…great weather…Steve and I hit the trails.  It was a good pace….but thankfully we cut it short.  Steve had family commitments…plus he took a nasty tumble on a fast downhill over a small but hidden kicker that caught him by surprise…over the bars onto the hardpack trail.  Scrapes and bruises to bike and rider…but otherwise ok…which is good…cuz then it’s OK to make fun of it.  J

It is rare to see Steve wipe out!

 

 

Ouch!! 

So, after an hour plus, we retired to my house for recovery. 

Looks like rain today (Wednesday)…finally, rest day off the bike.  Do some money making work, get some weight training in, and visit with mother.  Also need to take an opportunity to review how this year’s race season went, and what might be in store for this winter.

I’ll keep you posted!